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Craig Silvey, a 43-year-old Australian novelist who has written multiple novels, as well as children’s novels, was arrested from his Fremantle home on Monday the 12th of January and has faced court after he allegedly distributed child exploitation material.
Detectives arrested the father of three young daughters when they executed a search warrant on his home.
The police prosecutor alleged that Mr Silvey had accessed a website where he “discussed his sexual interest with children and distributed child exploitation material to an online user”.
Mr Silvey was also said to not be cooperating fully with the police investigation by refusing to provide passcodes to electronic devices.
Magistrate Thomas Hall granted Mr Silvey bail with conditions that included not accessing the internet except for his work, banking, legal services, and medical care, however, it was told to various news outlets including the ABC he left the court in a custody prison van as he could not meet the bail conditions.
Magistrate Thomas Hall also commented saying, “imprisonment is a likely outcome”, but that Mr Silvey was not convicted at this stage.
Curriculum
Mr Silvey’s books have been used in school curriculums for many years around the country, but the WA Education Minister Sabione Wintion has ordered schools in her state to stop using the texts while the author is under investigation.
The Victorian Department of Education followed suit with a spokesperson saying:
“Craig Silvey’s texts have been removed from the Victorian Lesson PLans, are not of any VCE English as an Additional Language or VCE Literature lists, and his books will not feature in the 2026 Premier’s Reading Challenge.”
The Queensland Department for Education commented that Silvey’s books are not on the prescribed text list for 2026 and it has recommended that schools remove the authors books while Mr Silvey is under investigation.
Sales and Adaptations
The allegations against Mr Silvey have impacted many forms of production of his novels.
Mr Silvey’s publishers, Fremantle Press and Allen And Unwin have both released statements expressing their cessation of promotion and support for the authors works.
“Fremantle Press is aware of the charges of child exploitation which were brought against Craig Silvey this week. The Alleges offences are shocking and abhorrent,” Fremantle Press wrote.
“At this time, Fremantle Press has ceased to promote Rhubarb by Craig Silvey and will do so while the court follows due process…and will make no further comment until legal proceedings are complete.”
Allen and Unwin wrote similarly, that they “are aware of serious charges brought against author Craig Silvey”,
“The nature of these allegations is deeply distressing…Given the gravity of the charges, Allen and Unwin will pause promotional activity of Mr Silvey’s work while legal process takes its course.”
Many book stores have also removed Silvey’s books from shelves and from their online stores. The CEO of Dymocks, David Allen, said:
“Due to the recent events and the unfolding situation, we have made the decision to remove all of Craig Silvey’s titles from sale.”
An independent book store owner, Nat Latter, was interviewed by the ABC and said that they also pulled all of Craig Silvey’s books from the shelves as soon as they heard about the charge.
“I think that’s a decision that most bookshops have made, just out of an abundance of caution”, they said.
“I’ve had a lot of messages from people. People wanting to have a conversation about it, people thinking about how to navigate conversations with their kids, teachers thinking about how to navigate those conversations.”
The Merrigong Theatre in New South Wales and the Belvoir St Theatre have “indefinitely paused” their stage adaptation of Runt, one of the most successful of Mr Silvey’s novels. In 2023 Runt won book of the year for young readers and won the children’s prize at the 2023 Indie Book awards and was adapted into a film in 2024.
The Belvoir St Theatre commented that whilst Mr Silvey was not involved in their adaptation of his works, they have still made the decision to pause the work on, and the promotion and sales for the production.
Mr Silvey’s next court appearance is currently set for February 10th.
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